Peace Not Walls ORS Resolution 2013
WHEREAS
the ELCA is “called and sent to bear witness to God’s creative, redeeming, and
sanctifying activity in the world,” and participates with others in God’s mission to
“serve in response to God’s love to meet human needs… advocating dignity and
justice for all people, working for peace and reconciliation among the nations…
[ELCA Constitution 4.01. and 4.02.c.]; and
WHEREAS
the ELCA expressed its commitment to work for peace and reconciliation with dignity
and justice for all people in the Holy Land through at least ten separate actions by
the Churchwide Assembly and Church Council from the years 1989 through 2004
[Churchwide Strategy for Engagement in Israel and Palestine, Appendix A: ELCA
Actions Related to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict]; and
WHEREAS
in April, 2005, the ELCA Church Council adopted the “Churchwide Strategy for
Engagement in Israel and Palestine” as an authoritative expression of this church’s
commitment to promote peace, reconciliation, dignity, and justice through its
ministry of accompaniment with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the
Holy Land [ELCJHL]; and
WHEREAS
the 2005 Churchwide Assembly passed Action CA05.06.23, which urges “members,
congregations, synods, the churchwide organization, and church related agencies
and institutions … to participate in the churchwide campaign for peace — PEACE NOT
WALLS: STAND FOR JUSTICE IN THE HOLY LAND — by engaging in awareness-building,
accompaniment, and advocacy activities...”; and
WHEREAS
the PEACE NOT WALLS CAMPAIGN was reaffirmed by actions of the ELCA Churchwide
Assemblies in 2007, 2009, and 2011; and
WHEREAS
the PEACE NOT WALLS CAMPAIGN, now in its eighth year of implementing the ELCA
Churchwide Strategy for Engagement in Israel and Palestine, continues to be a key
source of trustworthy guidance for this church’s ministries of advocacy,
accompaniment, and awareness-raising in partnership with the ELCJHL; therefore,
be it
RESOLVED
that the Oregon Synod affirm the ELCA Churchwide Strategy for Engagement in
Israel and Palestine as a faithful expression of this church’s witness to God’s
creative, redeeming, and sanctifying activity in the world; and be it further
RESOLVED
that the Oregon Synod affirm the PEACE NOT WALLS CAMPAIGN as a valuable means of
implementing this ELCA Churchwide Strategy for Engagement in Israel and
Palestine; and be it further
RESOLVED
that the Oregon Synod commend Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson for his leadership in
support of the ELCA Churchwide Strategy for Engagement in Israel and Palestine,
including his endorsement, with fourteen other Christian leaders, of a letter to the
U.S. Congress [October 5, 2012] requesting hearings on military aid to Israel to
ensure compliance with U.S. and international human rights law; and be it further
RESOLVED
that the Oregon Synod memorializes the 2013 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to call
upon the ELCA, in all of its expressions, to recommit itself to the Churchwide
Strategy for Engagement in Israel and Palestine through awareness-building,
accompaniment, and advocacy activities, including pilgrimage visits, sustained
financial support, and other forms of economic stewardship; to recommit itself to the
PEACE NOT WALLS CAMPAIGN as a valuable and effective vehicle for implementing this
strategy; and to commend Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson for his leadership in
support of the ELCA campaign PEACE NOT WALLS: STAND FOR JUSTICE IN THE HOLY LAND.